Bole hill Quarry Walk
“A Cloudy day walking in the peaks is better than a sunny day in the office”

Want to do bole hill quarry walk? Our walk takes you from the Longshaw estate via Padley gorge and Grindleford café for a bacon buttie. Then onto the Bole Hill Quarry, the millstone/crushing stone graveyard and then back to the Longshaw estate for a cuppa in the Longshaw Lodge

Start/Parking: Park in the Longshaw estate visitor centre car park just off the A6187 Owler Bar road Map reference (OL1 266800)

Tariff

£1.50 - Up to 1 hour

£2.60 - Up to 4 hours

£4.00 - All day

Free  - National Trust members

Walk summery: This is a really interesting walk to do with lots to see including a fabulous “Millstone graveyard” at Bole hill Quarry. I started the the Bole hill Quarry walk at 11:00 and finished at 15:00 and was accompanied by my wife and daughter who's 11. We really enjoyed it.

Guided walks: We have guides available to escort you on your Bole hill Quarry walk or any others you fancy doing. Our guides are very friendly, experienced hill walkers. They are also highly qualified first aiders. Obviously there is a charge for their time; the more there are of you the cheaper it will be. Click here to arrange your guide.

Walk Summery - The Bole hill Quarry Walk

  1. Follow path from car park pay machine and pass front of Lodge
  2. Continue along path past duck pond to large wood ant.
  3. Turn left at ant and follow path
  4. After Y junction turn right SW 250° to gate
  5. Take path immediate right and follow downhill to road.
  6. Cross road to Gorge path, turn right and follow path downhill
  7. Arrive at gap in wall by road turn left to Grindleford Café
  8. Back over bridge to mill
  9. Follow road in direction of rail tracks to Padley Chapel
  10. After chapel at cattle grid turn immediate right uphill
  11. Follow path to left to old rail inclined rail tracks and walk to top
  12. At the top take right path for 20m turn left uphill
  13. Continue up second and third slope.
  14. Follow path along, sharp left, and continue through silver birch.
  15. Pass Bole hill Quarry face and pool of water.
  16. Find large pile of large millstones
  17. See millstone on its own lying on left of path, turn right opposite
  18. Follow path to top and path adjacent to road
  19. At rocks Follow path down to gorge, cross footbridge, up slope to road
  20. Pass Granby discovery barn along path back to Longshaw Car park.

A more detailed summery follows with a PDF you can save.

The Start of the Bole hill Quarry walk

Take the path downhill which starts at the car park pay station. You’ll  find a “Boggart trail” on the left and man or woman made shelters in the little wood on the right – let the child in you have a play. The path comes to a t junction. For the walk we will take the right hand path BUT, just before you go right impress your friends with your local knowledge. If you take the left path to what seems behind the house and then a small track up on the left you will find an old Ice House (Make sure you have a torch).

Back to the path and follow it down to the open fields. You need to find the path to the left which runs in front of the estate house. Go through the gate and follow the path to the right and follow it through the woods to the large pond on the right. Stick to the main path which follows the pond and then weaves to the left. 

Follow this main path until you see a large wooden ant on the floor with an arrow pointing left. This is the path you take (It’s more interesting than going straight to the gorge – trust me).

I also like this way because not many people take this route. Follow the path, through the gate and straight on past the hollow on the right. You’ll come to a Y in the path take the right hand path (straight on, not the direction of the arrow). Just after the Y there is a track to the right which you will take. It takes you to a small steam that you have to cross between 2 trees (250° SW).

 The track will lead to a gate. Go through the gate and take the little track directly on the right (following the fence) to the main path. Turn right and continue down this path all the way to the road. At the bottom on the right hand side if you look there is a climbing area at Yarncliffe quarry.

Cross the road and through the wall to Padley gorge. Take the path on the left and follow. You’ll soon see a path on the right which takes you to the river edge. Sometimes we take this path and follow the river until you come to some steps going up. Whichever path you take just ensure that the river is on your right and that you are continuously going downhill. At the bottom of the gorge you’ll find a gap in the wall and the road. Turn left to cross Totley tunnel to Gridleford Café.

Apart from the natural history and scenery on the Bole hill Quarry walk there's also one of my favourite haunts "Grindleford cafe".

The café is legendary and gets very busy - we love it.

Once you’re watered and fed it’s time to attack some hills and work off those calories. Go back over the bridge the way you came but carry on to the mill and continue on this path following the line of the rail track (There is a track up a steep hill – we’re not taking this today see the Padley gorge walk).

Continue on the path and you’ll come to the Padley Chapel and ruins. Have a respectful wonder at the back of the chapel and you’ll find the ruins including where the spiral stair case was.

Go back to the main path and continue to the cattle grid, just after the grid you’ll see a path immediately right and uphill. You’ll start thinking “why did I have those chips” – you haven’t seen anything yet!! Follow the small path off to your left to the route of the inclined railway. You’ll know it’s the right path there’s a huge rock in the middle where the trucks used to come down hill. 

Are we nearly there yet?

Climb to the top. You will find the base of a winding drum. Basically in the middle of the 2 concrete structures there was a huge wooden wheel that pulled the trucks up and down the hill using the weight of the trucks which were full of rock.

Once you have had a look around take the path to the right (from where you arrived) after around 15/20 meters take the steep path on the left. Continue up the second and third slope. Follow the path and then a sharp left up a stony path to a flat area (plateau). Continue along the path for around 400m and you’ll see a water trough in the middle of all the trees. There is a path you can follow to the Bole hill Quarry walk to the wall and a pond. Follow the path to the left of the pond and you will come upon loads of unsold mill stones lying on the floor – very impressive. On the left hand side you see a single millstone on the left of the path. Follow the path directly opposite to the top and over the style. Follow the path which is parallel to the road up to the rocks.

Just after the rocks you’ll see a dark line of heather leading down to padley gorge. Follow this line down. It’s actually a dike formed by pack horses transporting equipment up and down the hill. At the bottom you’ll find a wooden foot bridge with a path on the other side leading to the road. Sometimes there is usually a couple of ice cream vans there which makes for a good excuse to have a break.

Cross the road to the stone building (Granby Discovery Barn) on the other side and follow the path through the woods. You’ll notice the large wooden ant on the floor from before. All you now do is follow the path back to the car park where you started the Bole hill Quarry walk. Here is some more information Bole Hill Quarry

I hope you have enjoyed the bole hill quarry walk

My Favourite walks in the peak district

 

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